wolves_of_yellowstonefandomcom-20200213-history
Facts about Wolves
Some wolf facts: 'The wolf Pack' *The alpha pair has the greatest amount of social freedom among all the pack members, but they are not "leaders" in the human sense of the term. The alphas do not give the other wolves orders; rather, they simply have the most freedom in choosing where to go, what to do, and when to do it. The rest of the pack usually follows. There are various subordinates, who dominate the omega. The omega is the lowest. It is the baby-sitter and usually more puppy than wolf. *In larger packs, there may be also be a beta wolf or wolves - a "second-in-command" to the alphas. In addition, one wolf typically assumes the role of omega, the lowest-ranking member of a pack. These individuals absorb the greatest amount of aggression from the rest of the pack, and consequently enjoy comparatively few individual privileges. *While most alpha pairs are monogamous with each other, there are exceptions. An alpha animal may preferentially mate with a lower-ranking animal, especially if the other alpha is closely related (a brother or sister, for example). The death of one alpha does not affect the status of the other alpha, who will quickly take another mate. Usually, only the alpha pair is able to successfully rear a litter of pups (other wolves in a pack may breed, and may even produce pups, but usually they lack the freedom or the resources to raise the pups to maturity). All the wolves in the pack assist in raising wolf pups. Some mature individuals, usually females, may choose to stay in the original pack so as to reinforce it and help rear more pups. Most, males particularly, will disperse, however. *Rank order is established and maintained through a series of ritualized fights and posturing best described as ritual bluffing. Wolves prefer psychological warfare to physical confrontations, meaning that high-ranking status is based more on personality or attitude than on size or physical strength. Rank, who holds it, and how it is enforced varies widely between packs and between individual animals. In large packs full of easygoing wolves, or in a group of juvenile wolves, rank order may shift almost constantly, or even be circular (e.g., animal A dominates animal B, who dominates animal C, who dominates animal A). -Eyesight- Wolves have relatively poor frontal vision. They may not be able to recognize members of their own pack beyond 100 to 150 feet. This is possibly one reason why the wolf mask accents their facial features and ears so greatly and the Alphas scent mark the other pack members. Their myopia evidently stems from the absence of the fovea centralis, the tiny pit at the back, center of the retina which, in humans, primates and some other animals provides the point of sharpest vision. Just how clearly a wolf sees when looking directly at an object is, of course, impossible to know, but it seems evident that beyond a short distance their vision must be somewhat blurred, rather like that of a photograph taken with a wide-open lens at a slow shutter speed, as opposed to an exposure taken with the smallest lens aperture at a fast speed. Nevertheless, wolves can see shapes and, especially, movement over long distances, and their peripheral vision is extremely accurate. They are able to detect even the slightest movements of very small animals, such as a mosquito, at a distance of more than ten feet and the movement of larger animals at considerable distances. There is some controversy as to whether wolves see in color or black and white. Regardless, it is unlikely that they see the various hues of the spectrum as humans see them, because the physical makeup of the eye is different. Nighttime vision for wolves is many times better than human vision in the day or night. Wolves can actually see much better and even much more clearly at night. Loss of rank can happen gradually or suddenly. An older wolf may simply choose to give way when an ambitious challenger presents itself, yielding its position without bloodshed. On the other hand, the challenged individual may choose to fight back, with varying degrees of intensity. While the majority of wolf aggression is non-damaging and ritualized, a high-stakes fight can easily result in injury for either or both parties. The loser of such a confrontation is frequently chased away from the pack or, rarely, may be killed as other aggressive wolves contribute to the insurgency. This kind of dominance encounter is more common in the winter months, when mating occurs. Wolves will defend there territory, they work as a pack to harass larger animals like bears, although a pack of 12 were once known to kill a grizzly bear, most times if the animal runs away the wolves will not attack. Animals the wolf may come in contact with are: Coyotes - They will avoid wolves most times. but when encounters occur they are aggressive. Grizzly bears - Are known to eat wolf pups, wolves will chase away bears from the den area. Cougars - Although rare in nature, the cougar being a lone hunter is at a disadvantage in a fight with a wolf pack. Foxes - Foxes have been observed stealing from wolf kills, wolves have been know to steal fox dens, wolves have been known to kill foxes, though it is rare, more often than not they ignore these tiny predators, the exceptions is in the arctic region where wolves will usually kill a fox on sight. The fox is much smaller than the wolf or coyote, usually weighing about twelve pounds. They feed on small birds, rodents, rabbits, hares, berries, carrion, and a variety of other foods. Various similar species inhabit most of the present range of the wolf. Ravens - One of the most fascinating relationships between animals is the one that seems to exist between wolves and raven. The raven, scavenger of food of all types, will often follow wolf packs in hopes of morsels of food. and wolves have learned to watch for circling ravens as a sign of possible food below. Dogs - Although wolves are physiologically capable of breeding with dogs, such crossed usually happen in captive situations, trappers tales of wild wolves mating with dogs is usually a campfire myth. Most encounters between wild wolves and dogs are aggressive in nature, it is only natural a dog would be a trespasser in a wolf's territory, small yapping dogs may be attacked as nuisances.